England coach Graham Rowntree is confident rookie hooker Tom Youngs can
emulate World Cup-winner Steve Thompson by learning his trade in the furnace
of international rugby.

Youngs is set to make his England debut against Fiji on Saturday after a total of just nine starts at hooker for Leicester in the Aviva Premiership and Heineken Cup.

It was only three years ago that Youngs began to make the transition from a hard-running centre on the recommendation of Heyneke Meyer, who was then Leicester's director of rugby and is now South Africa coach.

Thompson was originally a flanker but he was identified early by Clive Woodward as England's 2003 World Cup hooker and mastered the role.

Rowntree concedes Youngs is being plunged into Test rugby sooner than he would have liked because of Dylan Hartley's knee injury, but he believes the 25 year-old could develop into a top-class international.

"You can't expect Tom to be the finished article from day one but the signs are he is going to be a very, very good player going forward," Rowntree said.